Food Day brings together people from all walks of life – parents, teachers, and students; health professionals, community organizers, and local officials; chefs, school lunch providers, and eaters – to push for healthy, affordable and sustainable foods. Food Day is a nationwide grassroots mobilization for healthier diets and improved food policies.
For Food Day, King County is focusing on expanding access to healthy food and curbing access to junk-food. Our very own Dr. David Fleming, Director and Health Officer of Public Health - Seattle & King County, and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn are members of the national advisory board for Food Day.
Select activities planned for Food Day 2011 in King County:
A Food Day resolution from the King County Board of Health at its October 2011 meeting.
The media and public are invited to tour the farm and meet farmers at the Seattle Tilth Farm Works open house on Saturday, October 22 , 10-11:30 a.m. in Auburn. This project, supported by Communities Putting Prevention to Work, supports refugees, immigrants and other low-income families to create small farming businesses.
The Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition and its partners are celebrating Food Day by holding an event and asking King County to take the Soda Free Sundays pledge.
Public Health will host SNAC nutrition/cooking classes in schools, WIC nutrition/cooking classes in Public Health centers, and an Access and Outreach table at Crossroads Mall featuring the WIC and Basic Food Breastfeeding Program.
The Food Protection Program permits nearly 10,500 permanent food establishments and hundreds of temporary establishments, and assures safe foods through education and regulation
The Healthy Eating, Active Living Program improves healthy eating environments by promotion school and childcare nutrition, farmer’s markets, healthy food retail stores, farm to institution, healthy vending, and worksite wellness.
Women, Infants and Children (WIC) improves health outcomes for pregnant and breastfeeding women and their young children by promoting a healthy diet during pregnancy through individual and group nutrition education.
WIC and Nutrition Services supports healthy food access by working with farmers markets vendors to accept WIC vouchers and supporting WIC clients through the administration for the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program and Farmers Market Nutrition Access Program.
Community-based breastfeeding projects protect, promote, and support early breastfeeding in community settings, such as workplaces and hospitals, so that optimal maternal and infant health is assured.
Learn how organizations are replacing sugary drinks:
Did you know?
King County has made important progress with declining cardio-vascular disease mortality and leveling of the obesity rate. However, challenges remain, including increasing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and increasing rates of hypertension and high blood cholesterol.
Among King County’s 8th grade and high school youth, 21% are obese and overweight, and 10% drank two or more sodas on the day before they were surveyed.
Compared to white non-Hispanic high school students, obesity is two-fold or higher and the percent who consumed two or more sodas on the previous day is 1.3 to 1.8 times higher among African American, American Indian/Alaska Natives, Latinos, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander youth.
Some parts of the county, such as portions of Seattle and south King County, are especially affected. In these areas, students are more likely to have a fast food restaurant within a half mile of their school compared to students in the rest of the county and are more likely to be overweight or obese.
17 food deserts have been identified in King County, which are low-income areas with poor access to a supermarket or large grocery store.
